Peter Gabriel Genesis and Phil Collins Genesis...for the most part, they are two different animals...both GREAT STUFF! And honestly, both "leaders" also had some "duds". I believe the reason this great album...yes I said GREAT, has only a total 3.5 star rating is that the older die-hard Gabriel-era fans are disgruntled that their favorite band refused to remain in the past. We, as fans, have seen this played-out over and over again...our favorite bands try to branch out and evolve---sometimes it works e.g. Genesis, Santana,etc...sometimes it doesn't, e.g. Metallica, ZZ-Top, etc... So, with that said, I'm giving 'We Can't Dance' 5 stars to try and offset the undeserved current rating. Likewise, I wouldn't give 5 stars to an album that did not deserve it. This is a very good Genesis album that rates 5 in my mind, and not for the "hits"...though they are worthy. The real treasure with this album lies with the unknown songs. Driving the Last Spike, Fading Lights, Dreaming While You Sleep, Living Forever, etc...some of which contain some very cool "proggy" passages. Many other reviewers have rated the individual songs quite well, so I will simply say this album means a great deal to me and provokes many emotions within me (probably due to a "tricky" relationship I was going through when I first heard this CD). This is one of my favorite releases of the past 20 years, so beware of every review you read...you may miss out on something that might have become a treasured part of your collection/Life! Jeff

I love the wide variety of Genesis sounds on this album. From their long, progressive, epic rock tracks to fun pop/rockers to serious, heartfelt ballads, it is all here...and it is all good.

The lead track and single "No Son Of Mine" in and of itself emphasizes the diversity to come on this album. It has both a haunting classic rock and a melodic pop sound...an interesting and very good track. The fun and hilarity of such tracks as "Jesus He Knows Me" and "I Can't Dance" is greatly offset by the track in between--the 10-minute epic storytelling "Driving The Last Spike". "Never A Time" and "Hold On My Heart" are both nice ballads, while "Dreaming While You Sleep" contains haunting thoughts and images from the point of view of a hit-and-run driver. "Tell Me Why" is one of those socially concious songs like we have heard Phil Collins sing before, and it is a pretty powerful track. "Since I Lost You" is very soft, sad, and heartfelt with its message content. "Fading Lights", long track that it is, seems like a fitting way to end the album, as Genesis under Phil Collins would fade away after this album.

People love to compare the older progressive rock Genesis to the newer pop-based Genesis. Whatever your favorite version of the band is, there should be at least something that you like on this diverse album. And for true long-time fans of the band, this should be a real treat, since it encompasses such a wide range of Genesis music from various eras. Some may say that the album doesn't flow with its various styles, but to me the variety from one track to the next is what makes it so interesting and enjoyable to listen to.

I ofen hear bad things about this record, why? Let's just get one thing out of the way, SO WHAT GENESIS WENT MORE COMMERCIAL! It is still Genesis, the voice, the instrumental power, the epic songs, the melodies, the arrangments, but just because there not as far-out as the earlier stuff does not make it any worse, in fact newer Genesis had some very dark moments (see: 'Mama', a song about a teenage boy who wants to have sex with a prostitute he thinks is his mother, 'Tonight, Tonight, Tonight', a song about a herion addict despartly trying to find his dealer as he craves his drugs and 'Dodo/Lurker', the most surreal, sick and crazy song of the 1978-1994 period.

All the above are all dark, brooding, disturbing and powerful songs, there all long ('Mama' 6:37, 'Tonight, Tonight, Tonight' 8:47 and 'Dodo/Lurker' 7:33) all have instrumental sections and are all pretty weird (just listen to how sick Collins sounds on 'Mama', espesscialy the line 'Can't you feel my heart'). So onto 'We Can't Dance', the last album with Phil Collins as vocalist/drummer. From 1980 on all the Genesis/Collins albums had a thematic sound, for exmample 'Duke' gave the image of snowy trees and leaves falling in the autum, 'Genesis' gives the image of a dark, steamy, industrial city and 'Invisible Touch' a dystopian future. 'We Can't Dance' is an album of lost love, innocence, time and people. Their is a strong sense of grief throught the album.

From the opening 'No Son Of Mine' to the broken-hearted 'Since I Lost You' you get the feeling of grief and tradgedy. The veriation on the album spans from melodic, powerful rockers ('No Son Of Mine', 'Way Of The World) to gentle, regretfilled ballads ('Never A Time', 'Hold On My Heart, 'Since I Lost You') to the darker, epic, more like Genesis of old ('Driving The Last Spike', 'Dreaming While You Sleep', Fading Lights'. In 'Dreaming While You Sleep' (one of the best things the band has done) a man tries to come to terms with his guilt after he runs over a women on the rainy roads, lines like: 'In and out of darkness, In and out of sleep, Trying to keep my hands upon the wheel, Never saw the corner in the driving rain, I never saw her step into the street...'

In short 'We Can't Dance' is, with the truely classic 'Abacab' the best Genesis album from the 1978-1994 period, Phil Collins, Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford again prove they are the best trio in music history...

In spite of a lot of criticism from Genesis fans and critics around the world, this album still managed to be one of the band's best-sellers. Gabriel-era fans will blame Collins for all the shortcomings of Genesis, like being too pop-sounding. Funny how Collins' lack of artistic ability sold them more records. Plus, it is not a Phil Collins album, but a Genesis album. Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford are a part of it, too. If Collins is too pop, so are Banks and Rutherford. If Banks and Rutherford wanted a more progressive-rock album, do you think Rutherford would form another band, Mike & The Mechanics, to produce more pop hits like "The Living Years", "All I Need is a Miracle" and "Silent Running"? I think not. This album contains a little everything, ranging from dark, melancholy songs like "No Son of Mine" and "Dreaming While You Sleep" that are blunt and merciless in their descriptions of inner-demons, yet withold enough details to give the songs intrigue. As well, it has a little pop humor, found in "Jesus He Knows Me" and "I Can't Dance", which are satires of American TV evangelists and men who have the right physical image, but not a whole lot "up there" (in his head), followed by some serious looks at the state of this planet in "Tell Me Why", reminiscent of Collins' solo hit "Another Day In Paradise", and "Way of the World". To top it off, it's got the sentimental side of these men in songs like "Hold on my Heart", and the tear-jerker "Since I Lost You", written for Eric Clapton's late son, Connor. While the album received criticism on both sides, it is one of their best-sellers ever. Forget what the critics say - give it a try. You won't be sorry.

It is fitting and frustrating that "We Can't Dance" ended up being the last Genesis disc that included Phil Collins. This was their best album since 1981's "Abacab". It features certain commercial hits like "We Can't Dance" and "Never A Time", but they truly showed their ability to create beautiful, dramatic songs on "Driving The Last Spike", "Living Forever" and "Fading Lights". The instrumental end to "Living Forever" is one of my favorite bits of Genesis music. What's frustrating is that you can hear flashes of "older" Genesis throughout the disc, and their future as a three-piece sounded so bright. Still, "Fading Lights" is a fitting end to an incredible run. A fun personal note: "Hold On My Heart" was mine and my wife's first dance at our wedding!